Vol. HI.] 



VERVAIN FAMILY. 



71 



4. Verbena angustifolia Michx. 

 Narrow-leaved Vervain. (Fig. 3060.) 



Verbena angustifolia Michx. Fl. Bor. Am. 2: 14. 



1803. 



Perennial, roughish-puberulent or pubes- 

 cent ; stem slender, simple or branched, 4-sided 

 above, i-2 high. Leaves linear, spatulate 

 or lanceolate, obtuse or subacute at the apex, 

 cuneate at the base and tapering into short 

 petioles, serrate or serrulate, veiny, \ l /z'-2/ 

 long, 2 // -5 // wide; spikes mostly solitary at 

 the ends of the branches, usually peduncled, 

 slender, dense, 2 / -5 / long; fruits overlapping 



or the lower somewhat distant, 1 



\/." 



high; 



bracts lanceolate, acuminate, equalling or 

 shorter than the calyx; corolla purple or blue, 

 about 3" long, its limb about as broad, the 

 lobes obovate or oblong. 



In dry fields, Massachusetts to Florida, west 

 to Minnesota, Illinois and Arkansas. Hybridizes 

 with V. stricta and V. bracteosa. June-Aug. 



6. Verbena bracteosa Michx. 

 Large-bracted Vervain. (Fig. 3062.) 



V. bracteosa Michx. Fl. Bor. Am. 2: 13. 1803. 

 Perennial, hirsute-pubescent; stem 4-sided, 

 much branched from the base, the branches 

 decumbent or ascending, slender, 6 / -i5 / 

 long. Leaves ovate, oval, or obovate in out- 

 line, pinnately incised or pinnatifid, i / -3 / 

 long, more or less cuneate at the base and 

 narrowed into short petioles, the lobes mostly 

 dentate; spikes sessile, stout, dense, becom- 

 ing 4 / -6 / long in fruit; bracts conspicuous, 

 linear-lanceolate, rather rigid, longer than 

 the flowers and fruits, the lower ones often 

 incised; corolla purplish blue, about 2" long. 



On prairies and in waste places, Minnesota and 

 Illinois to Alabama and Florida, west to British 

 Columbia, Arizona and California. Hybridizes 

 with V. Canadensis. May-Aug. 



5. Verbena stricta Vent. Hoary or 

 Mullen-leaved Vervain. ( Fig. 306 1 . ) 



Verbena stricta Vent. Descr. PI. Jard. Cels. 



pi. 5j. 1800. 

 Verbena rigens Michx. Fl. Bor. Am. 2: 14. 1803. 



Perennial, densely soft-pubescent all over; 

 stem stout, obtusely 4-angled, simple, or 

 branched above, strict, very leafy, i-2^ 

 high. Leaves ovate, oval, or oblong, very 

 short-petioled, acute or obtuse at the apex, 

 narrowed at the base, prominently veined, 

 incised-serrate or laciniate, 1/-4/ long; spikes 

 solitary, or several, mostly sessile, dense, 

 stout, becoming 6 / -i2 / long in fruit; fruits 

 much imbricated, 2 // -2^ // high; bracts lan- 

 ceolate-subulate, nearly as long as the calyx; 

 corolla purplish blue, 4 // ~5 // loug, its limb 

 nearly as broad. 



In dry soil, Ohio to Minnesota, Nebraska and 

 Wyoming, south to Tennessee, Texas and New 

 Mexico. Naturalized as a weed further east. 

 Hybridizes with V. bracteosa. June-Sept. 



